Lamarr Houston Tells Critics to "Eat Dirt" After Loss

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CHICAGO, IL - AUGUST 08: Lamarr Houston #99 of the Chicago Bears works his way around Allen Barbe #76 of the Philadelphia Eagles during the first quarter of a preseason game at Soldier Field on August 8, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

It has been said by many wise sports fans that wins have a thousand fathers and that losses are orphans, so it isn’t surprising that Lamarr Houston isn’t feeling much love after the Chicago Bears blew a 21-7 lead and lost Sunday to the Carolina Panthers.

After the loss, Houston took to Twitter to not only compliment fans who were willing to weather the storm with the team, but also to take to task the ones that were critical of the team’s effort in defeat:

This tweet presumably was triggered by fans tweeting at him after the game, so there are several ways to look at this. Yes, Houston only has six tackles and zero sacks so far this season, but he wasn’t exactly given a big contract in the offseason to get to the quarterback. He was brought in to help stop the run, which the Bears failed to do last season. This year, they are a lot better, currently ranking 16th in the league in rushing yards per game allowed, a far cry from last season’s dismal finish.

Game Photos: Bears vs. Panthers

Even though chastising Houston is probably misdirection of anger on the part of Bears fans, his comment isn’t exactly well-advised. With the amount of money the team has spent on new contracts for this season, expectations were understandably high. Complaining about a lack of fan support isn’t likely to endear him to anyone, and if anything will only increase the scrutiny that he and the rest of the team are under.

While not on the same level as the conflict between players and media, the relationship between players and fans will always have a bit of an adversarial edge to it in times of turmoil, and this was just another example of that fact.